4 Easy Home Habits That Let You Be a Little Lazy

If your favorite part of cleaning is when it's over, then listen up, lazybones. You can do less work and still have a clean and tidy house if you set up these strategies ahead of time to diminish dirt, wrangle clutter and keep yourself on track.

Take off your shoes

It's sooo much easier to prevent dirt from coming inside than it is to clean it up afterwards. A little forethought, a good mat, a sturdy boot tray and a strict "lose the shoes" policy will go surprisingly far towards keeping outside dirt outside and not all over your house.

Implement a one-in-one-out policy

In the fight against clutter, it's the maintenance, not the initial purge, that's the biggest challenge. Once you've made a big push to pare down, getting really picky about what you bring back into your space is key. That's why the one-in-one-out works so well: you can only replace something, you can't add. It will make you think long and hard about your future purchases which will not only save you space but also cash!

Be the tortoise, not the hare

In other words, don't try to do everything at once and burn out. Slow and steady, my friends. If you're feeling overwhelmed by tasks, try committing to one tiny thing each day. Small, manageable tasks are the key. Anyone can do that! It will make you feel like you're getting closer to your goal but not spending your life maintaining your home (which might make you want to just give up).

Get a system set up

Putting an organizational system in place is so important. Are you annoyed that your family leaves their coats everywhere? Where's your easy-to-access coat rack? Mail piling up? Get a recycling system going to sort it as it comes in so you only deal with what you want (and the junk mail never makes it past the foyer). Remember the landing strip? Get one. Get one now. Whatever it is that gets messy chez toi, there are ways to make it easy to organize day-to-day. And when it's easy, you'll actually do it. Problem solved.